Happy Mother's Day to me :)

My kids (all 6 of them!) and I on Mother's Day 

Le Mans racing at Laguna Seca

Mark took the 2 older boys to the LeMans race at Laguna Seca on Saturday.  They all had a great time watching the cars race and are still talking about it!

Track meet

 M and Z are doing track this summer instead of baseball.  These are pictures from their track meet this past Saturday!  They seem to be enjoying it and we love that they are running off some energy!

Happy 7th birthday Z!

 M made Z a birthday sign out of legos :)

 Thanks Mimi and Papa!

 We love Legos!

Happy birthday Z!  Can't believe you are 7!  (please ignore my angry face...Mark was being ridiculous with the camera and I was annoyed :)

Bubbles!

Get em' Daisy!

 Daisy guarding the house from our 4 legged intruders...or NOT!

I've never lived somewhere that has lizards, so it's a little weird to see them everywhere!

IVF update

It has been a long time since I've posted so I thought I catch everyone up to speed :)  We started our IVF cycle on March 5 with evening shots nightly.  These shots are into the fatty tissue of the stomach, love handles, or thigh and they aren't pleasant, but manageable! I started visiting the doctor daily so that he could count my follicles (eggs) and and see how they were growing.  I was an egg making machine and had 25 eggs of varying size and quality.  I surprised the doctor by how well I was responding and lowered my doses.  

I had my egg retrieval on March 15.  During this procedure they put me under general anesthesia so that I couldn't feel anything during the procedure.  They were able to retrieve 15 eggs and 14 of them fertilized well. At this time we just had to wait to see how they grew.  I apparently told some pretty good stories while coming out of anesthesia (says my husband anyway!) and had some mild cramping, but nothing serious.  This day we stated the progesterone shots (these help keep me pregnant).  These shots are PAINFUL!  They go into the upper muscle of my buttocks and it feels like getting a tetanus shot every day.  Mark got very good at giving these shots and I'm thankful for his gentleness!

We met with the doctor after 3 days and found out that our embryos were doing great.  All but 2 of them were good enough to transplant.  When this happens the doctor sometimes suggests that you wait 2 more days (this stage is called the blastocyst stage).  Our doctor suggested that we wait to see if some of the embryos pulled ahead.  I went in on March 20 and had 2 embryos implanted.  At this stage we had a 50% chance of both of them implanting and us having twins, but we were ready for that risk (we just wanted one to stick!!)  

Then we waited...and waited.  We waited a week and it was perhaps the longest week of my life!  I took a home pregnancy test (even though it wasn't recommended) and it came out negative.  I knew there was a chance this was wrong, but I was certain we weren't pregnant.  I went in for a pregnancy test on March 27 and 29.  They make us wait until the second blood test to get the results so they are certain.  I got a call on the 29th from the clinic saying we were pregnant.  I couldn't believe it!!  Mark and I are over the moon excited!  

Fast forward to today.  We are almost 9 weeks along and things are going well.  We have gone in for two ultrasounds and both times baby was doing great.  We've even heard the heartbeat both times.  It is truly amazing to see your child alive inside of you!  I have morning sickness (well it's more like all day sickness) and it's rough!  I am also extremely tired, but other than that things are good.  Our due date is December 6 and I can't wait to meet this little person!  Thank you to everyone who prayed and thought about us during this time.  Infertility isn't fun or easy, but we are beating it!